I’m not going to lie, I’m struggling to generate content a bit at the moment. I’m doing the series “The Boy was a larker” for the HCST newsletter and I can do that for days, as there’s so many great players of the past I can wax lyrical over but I’m not exactly sure why I’m so lacking on the current product though. I mean things are going quite, well aren’t they? We don’t lose much and should be pretty steady, we have an ace gaffer who I think could genuinely have us there or thereabouts next season and it’s all a little less hectic than it was in the early months of the new ownership. Maybe, just maybe I find myself swimming against the tide recently though and maybe it’s my pedantic soul, but I just don’t align that much with opinions that swim around the internet in 2023, some City related, some not. So, I thought… ah go on… I’ll give you them. I know this might trigger a bunch of people, but such is life, we all don’t think the same… and I’m not even certain I’m right… (no… really… I am)
Anyway… here’s six unpopular opinions about City and one about football in general. I’d love to hear yours so please send your hate tweets to @thelikesofhull on Twitter. Cheers.
1.We really are massive name snobs at football.
Ok, why are we doing so many backflips for new players signed who played abroad when there’s lads right in front of our faces that deserve better? Yes, some of the signings have done very well (see Estupinan, O and Seri, JM) and some have flashed quality and had moments (see Tufan, O) but some have massively underwhelmed or straight up been average (see Figueredo, T and Sinik D). The defence has been largely saved from the verge of farce this season down to the super sexy names of Alfie Jones, Sean McLoughlin, Matt Ingram, Cyrus Christie and Jacob Greaves, Cyrus has quite rightly scored the plaudits, but the other four have been really consistent, and yes that isn’t flashy, but neither was Andy Dawson, Peter Skipper or Michael Turner and last time I looked they did ok. We are going to need a core of players that get this league to get out of this league. Give the less fashionable players a little more love please.
2.I don’t hate Leeds United.
There. I said it. I think it quite often and it needs establishing. If you’re from Leeds or North Yorkshire, fill your boots. Although their ground is minging for away fans, the noise is way above the average in the Premier League and it usually adds a little to even an “ok” game. I don’t love them, or want them to win, but I don’t want anyone else to. Here’s the thing, I don’t like Hull based Leeds fans, and I find them as comical as I do sad, especially the ones that remember where they are from for Rugby Leeeeeeague, but not football. That’s who I want to lose, those fans, I want them to spend loads of money chasing success up and down the M62 and fail miserably. But to me that’s a totally different thing to the actual club and current team. I care no more or less about them than I do about Plymouth Argyle or Ipswich Town. Just another team.
3. “Once a tiger always a tiger” is a massive contradiction and a load of old cobblers.
When players leave or tweet about baking a cake, you can bet your mortgage that a ton of twitter followers will use the above phrase and blow smoke up the exit hole of said player. This saying is nonsense. Jimmy Bullard is not always a tiger and neither is Terry Dolan or even league winning manager Grant McCann in the view of many. So, it’s blatantly not true. Yeh sure, “Once a successful tiger that left in fairly positive circumstances and hasn’t had their hard drives taken away or spread flat earth theories, always a tiger” isn’t quite as catchy but it’s also much more accurate.
4. If the current investment doesn’t work and get us out of the league, will those who say “we have our club back” hang around?
This is something I’ve thought for a while. The current owners are pretty likeable. They’ve done a lot of good PR things, and listened to the fan base, even elements of the fan base that may hold some “interesting” views. We’ve rolled the dice this year (and let’s be honest, not done that much better than last year’s team who were on much less money to this point) and will probably roll again next year. But if this doesn’t work, and we don’t hotfoot it to the high life, what then? We’ll surely have to find some significant savings and offload. It could and probably would unravel. Just remember this if it does. Lots have come back because of the return of concessions, well priced options and new era. But let’s be honest, some have just because we’ve signed some big names and they think we’re on the up. Let’s see where they are if it all goes a bit Derby County.
5. I don’t want KLP back, although it was quite funny we asked.
Keane Lewis Potter surprised me a little this summer, he was surely going to get another improved deal, he was playing for his hometown club and then the club matched his ambition. I think agents were agents though and he was determined to leave, which is his right but it kind of killed a bit of that hometown boy reputation. It felt early to leave and you kind of figured he wouldn’t get much playing time. Well, look who won the pony… he hasn’t. I think he’d have flown this season and if he’d have given it just one more year (or even six months) his star would have risen so much further, plus this could put us right in the mix right now. It did give me a wry smile when we asked Brentford about him coming back on loan though, yes, yes, I know it makes me a bad person and all that. But it really did.
6. All rise King Elder, the player that ran rings around the fan boys and won.
“Once a tiger always a tiger”, Jeez, we can’t even be half decent to those who ARE tigers. Yes, he may have had a few beers and said things were a bit rubbish, yes, he maybe shouldn’t have done, but hands up who hasn’t said a few loose things after a beer? He’s human, players are just us, but they’re much, much better at football. The overreaction of the fan boys with Turkish flags in their bio was as hilarious as it was out of all proportion. Then, an injury or two, and look who’s back in the team? He’s a solid champ player, he looks like he should be opening the batting at the MCG and I love him, someone give him a golden brewdog can immediately. What a guy.
7. I wanted Sheffield United to beat Wrexham. Because Welsh teams should be in their own league and cup.
This one really is a little out there. I don’t like Sheffield United very much at all, I’m old enough to remember them celebrating at Turf Moor and 10-year-old me always swore to hate them. But I laughed and laughed when ten men United spoiled the day of Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham. I have no idea why historically Welsh teams play in the EFL (the clue is in the first letter) but there’s plenty of them and they could easily form a bit of a more rubbish Scottish Prem, Cardiff City, Swansea, Wrexham, Newport County, Merthyr Tydfil, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, all the big names.
They don’t like England, they don’t like English teams and they live to watch England lose. Go form your own league and save us three hundred-mile round trips whilst you’re at it. I’ll never understand why they’re in our league, you don’t have Swiss teams in Serie A, or Portuguese teams in the Primera League. Plus, their champions could go in the prelims for the Champs league, go on boys, you know it makes sense, make the plunge lads and all the best, send us a postcard etc.
Thanks for reading folks. UTT.